Photographic meter-reader.



\E. G. POND. .PHOTOGRAPHIO METER READER. APPLICATION rum HAY 21, 1909.nnnnwnn APR. 27, 1910.

975,277. Patented-Nov. 8,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. O. POND. PHOTOGRAEHIG METER READER; APPLIOATI ON FILED MAY 27, 1909.RENEWED APR. 27, 1910.

Patented N018, 1910.

3 SHEETSEHBI1T 2.

N Svwemtoi wmwow I I PHOTOGRAPHIG METER READER. APPLICATION FILED MAY27, 1909. RENEWED A193,. 27, 1910. 975,277, Patented Nov. 3, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

EDWARD (J. POND,

OF PETERSB'URG, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF '10 CHARLES M. PATTERSON,01? WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHIC METER-READER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

Application filed May 27, 1909, Serial No. 498,725. Renewed April 27,1910. Serial No. 558,003.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Enwann 0.,POND, a citizen of the United States,residing at Petersburg, in the county of Dinwiddie and State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPhotographic Metei Readers; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to improvements in photographic meter readers andthe object of my invention is to provide a simple device of thischaracter indices of gas, water, and electric meters may be readilyphotographed, making an accurate and infallible copy of said indices,thus preventing errors arising from improper or accidental readings ofthe same.

lVith this object in view, my invention consists in the construction andcombinations of parts as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectionof my improved device taken on the line 1-1 of Fig;

2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 2 is a front view of thesame with the front parts removed, the casing being shown in section.Fig. 3 is a detail view showing a plan of the operating gearing. Fig. 4:is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line55 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 6 is aperspective view of one of the bearings for the paper carrying roll, andFig. 7 is a perspective view of the operating lever.

1 represents a meter which it is desired to read, having a face plate 52carrying an in dex and hands or other registering devices.

My invention is portable and is adapted to beplaced in any positiondirectly in front of the face plate of a meter, and it can be used inany positionhoriZontal, vertical, or inclined.

3 represents the casing of the reader, which is provided with removabletop, sides, back, and front, which may be attached thereto by hinges orarranged to be slipped out from the main portion of the casing, suitablefastening devices such as t being employed to fasten the parts togetherand suitable packing 5 being provided to keep the joints light-tight.The object of having by means of which the.

parts of the casing removable is that access may be readily had to theinterior of the casing to remove and replace the rolls carrying thephotographic paper. Near the rear, the casing is provided with avertical partition 6, having slots at the top and bottom, as indicatedat7. The rear of the partition 6 is provided with a blackened plate 8 orsome material preventing the passage of light. In the slotted portionsat the top and bottom of this plate are provided rollers 9, mounted onsuitable bearings or pins 10, over which the photographic paper passes.Similarly a partition 11 is provided near the front of the casing, whichentirely closes the front part of the same except for the lens aperture,and in this aperture is mounted a lens 12, preferably a compound lens.The space between the partition 11 and the back part of the casing, whenthe latter is closed up, is practically light-tight. The partition 11is, however, provided with an aperture through which runs the strap foroperating the paper, and therefore to prevent any light from reachingthe paper roll I provide a casing 13, having its ends firmly securedagainst the partitions 6 and 11, smallest at the front end where itincloses the lens 12, and largest at the rear end. This casing could bemade frusto-conical, if desired, but for convenience in manufacturing lhave shown it as composed of'four plates shown in Fig. 5, making thecasing rectangular in cross section.

The partition 6' and the back plate 8 are provided with a perforation14, largest at the front as shown, and over this perforation, which issituated directly behind the lens 12, the photographic paper is adaptedto run. The end of the perforation nearest the lens is considerablylarger than the other end, as shown 111 Fig. 1.

15 represents .the photographic paper, which is adapted to run from thelower spool- 16 to the upper spool 17, as is usual in cameras.

18 represents a spring, bearing against the inner part of the lowerspool 16 to keep the paper from becoming loose. The paper is fed fromthe spool 16 tothe spool 17 by step-by-step gearing hereinafterdescribed.

The casing is provided with an o ening 19 situated directly in front ofthe lens, and surrounding this openin 19 is a projecting casing 20 openat the ront and back, the

rear end being tightly fastened to the front of the casing and the frontend being adapted to be placed in immediate proximity the indicatingplate of the meter which it is desired to read. The top part 21 of thisprojecting casing is preferably hinged and inclined downwardly, as shownin Fig. 1, so that access to the electric lamp may readily be had. Theopening 22 in the front of the plate is preferably larger than theopening in the rear of the casing surrounding the opening 19, but thisis not. material.

On the front part of the main casing and located within the smallercasing 20, is an electric lamp 23, provided with a suitable reflector24. This is connected in circuit with the poles of a storage battery 25of any desired form, removably supported in clips 26 in the lower partof the main casing.

When the device is put close to a meter whose reading it is desired tophotograph,

v by means of a single lever the roll of photographic paper is fed so asto leave an unexposed portion behind the opening 14; the lamp 23 islighted; and the shutter in front of the lens 12 is opened, all by themovement of a single lever. This lever is shown detached in Fig. 7 andit consists of a part 27 projecting out through a slot 28 in the side ofthe main casing and is journaled on a pin or rod 29, and has a thumbpiece 30 by means of which it may be easily operated. On the inner partof the lever is a spr ng extension 31, terminating in a wire 32, whlchengages a portion of the shutter to operate it, as hereinafterdescribed. Bolted to the inner end of the lever 27 is a stop, consistingof a portion 33 pivoted on the rod 29 and having an arm 34 terminatingin a curved arm 35, which acts as a stop, as hereinafter described. v

36 represents a shutter which is circular in form and provided with anopening 37 adapted to register with the lens 12 when operated. Thisshutter is mounted on a rod or shaft 38, located in the casing below thelens 12 and a little to one side thereof, as shown in Fig. 2. The frontpart of the shutter is provided with extending portions or lugs 39 and40, and one edge of the shutter is also provided with another projectingportion 41, which is adapted to strike-either one of the stops 42 or 43fastened on the front of the partition 11 and limiting the movement ofthe shutter under the influence of the spring 31 in either direction.From the construction described, it is evident that a downward pressureof the lever 27 as far as it can be pushed will operate the shutter,moving the aperture 37 -in front of the lens 12.

The lever 27 is made of metal which is a good conductor of electricity,as brass, for example. Pivotally attached to the lever 27 near itscenter is a flexible metal strap connecting with themetal stra 44, whichextends through a hollow guide 45, secured on the front of the partition11; This strap passes upwardly over a roller 45 and through an opening47 in the partition 11 and operates the paper-carrying rollers, ashereinafter described. To the rear end of the strap 44 is pivotallyattached a link 48, and a spring 49 embraces the upper part of the strap44, resting on one side against the partition 11 and on the otheragainst a collar 50 secured to the end of the strap 44, and normallytends to keep the strap and thereby the lever 27 in the position shownin full lines in Fig. :2. The rear end of the link 48 is pivotallyattached to a link 51, the other end of which is attached to a crank arm52, rigidly mountedon a shaft 53,which shaft is journaled in the maincasing and in a bracket 54, having right-angled ends attached to thecasing. Preferably a plate is provided inside of the casing, the plates-54 and forming a box, as shown in Fig. 3. On the shaft 53 to which thecrank arm 52 is attached, is rigidly mounted a disk 56, on one face ofwhich is a spring operated pawl 57. On this same shaft 53 is looselymounted a gear wheel 58, with which said pawl 57 is adapted to engage.

The gear wheel 58 engages with a larger gear wheel 59 on the shaft 60, aspring pawl 61 allowing said gear wheel to rotate in one direction butpreventing its backward motion, as shown in Fig. 4. On the shaft (30 isfixedly mounted another gear wheel (52, which meshes with a small gearwheel (33 on the shaft 64, onwhich the spool 17 is detachably mounted,as is usual in cameras. The other end of the spool 17 is detachablymounted in a'right-angled bracket (35 secured to the top of the casing,as shown in Fig. 5, and provided with a slot in which the projecting pin66 of the spool is carried. Over this slot is located a spring (37,having a thumb piece 68, so that the pin (36 may be From the battery 25a wire 70 runs, passing through the electric lamp 23 and thence 44. Fromthe-battery also runs another wire 71, which connects with a' metalstrip 72 on the outside of the casing and just below the slot 28.

The operation 'is as follows :The rolls carrying the sensitized paperhaving been placed in position, when itis desired to photograph the faceplate of a meter, the apparatus is placed in position with the easing 20in immediate proximity to the face plate of the meter and the lever 27is pressed down until it strikes the strip 72. The instant it strikesthis strip 72, the lamp 23 is.

lighted. The ressing down of the lever 27 exercises a pul upon the crankarm 52, turning the upper spool 17 carrying the paper feeding means adistance greater than the diameter of the rear part of the opening 14,thus leavinga fresh portion of the sensitized paper behind said opening.-Meantime the spring portion 31 of the lever 27 is being flexed, asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The shutter 36 of the camera cannotmove, however, at first, because the arm strikes the lug or stop 40. Thearm 35 gradually slides by the stop 40 and finally becomes disengagedfrom it, whereupon the spring 31 instantly swings the shutter so thatthe opening 37 is in front of the lens 12, the extent of the rotarymovement of the shutter being determined by the. lug 41, which strikesagainst the stop 42. The operator holds the lever 27 down in cbntactwith the stri 72 for a brief period, and a photograph o the face plateof the meter is taken upon the strip of paper 15. On releasing the lever27,

; the spring 49 pulls it back into its original position, as shown infull lines in Fig. 2, and

the spring arm 31 restores the shutter to its original position. Thismovement of the shutter, however, does not take place until the lever 27has almost reached its original position, at which time the spring 31has been flexed as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, because the lug 39comes in contact with the arm 35 and prevents the movement of theshutter until said arm-35 has passed'by the lug, when the shutter isalmost instantaneously returned to-its original position, that is tosay, with the lug 4:1 in contact with the stop 43.

The whole apparatus constitutes a hand camera provided with an electriclamp.

lVhile I have thus described my invention, I wish it to be distinctlyunderstood that I do not limit myself to the exact details described andshown, as these could be varied widely without departing from the spiritof my invention, the essence of which is that by the pressure of thesingle lever a fresh-portion of sensitized paper may be exposed, anelectric lamp lighted, and the shutter moved to uncover a lens, all by asingle movement of a single lever, these operations being performed inthe reverse order, except that the paper feeding means do not operate,when 'the lever is released.

For water, gas and electric meters, three distinct machines are used,varying only in said spools to t the shape of the casing or hood and thesize and arrangement of gears.

I claim 1. In a photographic meter reader, the combination of a cameracasing provided with a lens and shutter, spools to which a roll ofsensitized .paper 1s attached, said paper being adapted to travel fromone of e other, an electric light mounted on said casing, a lever, andconnec- ,tions whereby a single movement of said lever will close saidcircuit through said electric light and will operate said shutter, astrap attached to said lever, a spring carried by said strap, andgearing whereby the movement of said strap in one directionautomatically feeds a certain amount of the film from one spool to theother, substantially as described.

2. In a photographic meter reader, the combination of a casing providedwith an electric lamp, a lens and a shutter, a pair of rolls carrying asensitized film, a lever, and connections for operating said shutter andclosing the circuit through said electric lamp, a flexible strapconnected to said lever, a spring normally pressing said strap and saidlever in one direction, and ratchet gearing connectin one end of saidstrap with one of the rol s carrying the sensitized film, whereby themovement of said lever will feed a predetermined portion of saidsensitized film from one roll to the other, substantially as described.

3. In a photographic meter reader, the combination of a camera casingprovided ,with a lens and shutter, rolls carrying a sensitized film, alever, and connections whereby the movement of said lever in onedirection will feed a predetermined amount of said film from one rolltothe other, and connections whereby the movement of said lever willoperate said shutter, including a spring attachment to said leverengaging said shutter and sto s on said casin said shutter being provied with suitabe lugs and said lever being provided with an extensionadapted to contact with some of said lugs and prevent-the movement ofsaid shutter until the proper instant, substantially as dey scribed.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.-

EDWARD (l. POND. Witnesses:

A. W. KENDALL, LYMUND B. OooK.

